Tag Archives: sport

Getting Some Air

AU0E4666.jpgThere seem to be quite a few posts on the blog of kite surfing. Whenever I come across someone out in the waves, I can’t help myself but spend some time watching them. Driving down the coast from Coronado, we stopped on the beach to eat our breakfast. As we sat on the wall looking across the sand at the waves, the kite surfer headed out a short distance away.

AU0E4597-EditOf course, he never came up as far us us but he was still close enough to get a good view. He managed to get some good air at times, usually when I wasn’t trying to photograph him. The wind off the ocean was strong and steady so he was having a lot of fun with some reasonably sized waves to launch off periodically. I figured an animated GIF might be a good way to show him in motion. See what you think.

Sailing with a Wing

AU0E4271.jpgAs we were driving along the harbor in San Diego, I saw something odd in the marina area. We doubled back and found somewhere to park so I could investigate further. It was a sailing boat which had an airfoil style of mast as opposed to a normal mast with rigging for sails. The wing section appeared to be in multiple parts which, I imagine, would provide a greater degree of control. Since the boat was moored, we didn’t see it in action so I have no idea how well it performs but it certainly looked pretty interesting.

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Late Night Paddle Boarding

AU0E4490.jpgOne evening on Coronado I wanted to get some shots of the San Diego skyline when it was illuminated. As I was walking along the water, a group of people came paddle boarding by in the dark. With the water calm and nothing much moving in the bay, it seemed like a pretty cool thing to be doing just gliding through at your own pace watching the city drift by. Hope that they had a good time!

Wind and Kite Surfing

AU0E5129.jpgIt was a pretty windy day when I was at Coyote Point. This had brought out anybody in the Bay Area with either a windsurfing board or kite-boarding gear. They had to work pretty hard because the wind was certainly not making the conditions good for novices. A couple of time, I saw people create a slightly larger cloud of spray than normal as they plowed in. However, on the whole, they seemed to know what they were up to.

AU0E5112.jpgFrom my vantage point on the headland, I could see them well and the long lens allowed things to get a bit compressed. Even so, on some occasions it did appear that they were trying hard to all get in my shot at once. Thanks for the effort guys!

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Pacific Grove

wpid13815-AU0E1290.jpgI have posted plenty of pictures of Monterey and the surrounding area in the past. As you head along the shore, you actually move from Monterey in to Pacific Grove. It is quite strange how you go from the tourist center of Monterey onto some beautiful shoreline in a very short space of time and the number of people plummets. That is not to say Pacific Grove is deserted but it is a far more tranquil spot to be. The path along the top of the cliffs is great for wandering along and seeing what the sea is doing and what wildlife is out.

wpid13809-AU0E1217.jpgThe birds are a constant presence as you walk but looking down to the water you get to see whatever the abundant sea life of Monterey Bay has to offer. On this trip a few seals were resting on the rocks and some Sea Otters were going about their business close in to the ricks despite the waves crashing around them. Must be good food near there.

wpid13805-AU0E1193.jpgThe other “marine life” we saw was a group of people swimming out into the bay. I assume it was a club of some sort since it seemed very organized. A lot of people of varying age and ability were swimming out to a marker buoy and back. They seemed to have a lot of fun although some seemed noticeably tired once they were out of the water. Since I would have had a very hard time doing what they were doing, I can certainly sympathize!

Santa Cruz

wpid12710-AU0E4746.jpgThe winter in our part of California is not exactly harsh compared to many parts of the country. However, we do get a lot of cloud and rain at this time of year. Having a lovely clear day is a good time to just get out and go to somewhere pretty. Santa Cruz certainly fits the bill. The coast there is both picturesque and full of interesting things going on. A variety of stuff was happening while we were there and some of those things will get a post of their own so keep an eye out for them.

wpid12688-AU0E4552.jpgThe rocky shoreline is very cool. It has a beach below it which makes it look even better. Add in to that people surfing, walking their dogs or just being a little different, you have a fun place to be. Not often you see a bunch of guys on unicycles come by on their afternoon ride! I wasn’t the only one out with a camera either. I was actually testing a lens while we were out and I met another guy with the same lens so we were obviously doing similar things. Meanwhile, someone had a Phantom getting some aerials over the shore so cameras were busy that day.

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Surfing

wpid12653-AU0E4233.jpgSanta Cruz is a popular spot for surfing and I have previously posted some shots from there here. With a great sunny winter day and the weekend combining in our favor, we decided to take a trip to Santa Cruz and enjoy a walk along the coast. Plenty of people were doing likewise and there were lots of surfers in the water. I don’t think the conditions were ideal since there seemed to be long periods with little wave activity but they were a patient bunch.

wpid12708-AU0E4710.jpgThe majority were further out into the water where the wave action was pretty variable. I few hardy souls were close in to the rocks where the waves could be a lot more active. I imagine this is a spot for those that are more confident in their ability to avoid getting pulped on the shore!

Friday Night Lights

wpid11690-AU0E9490.jpgFor someone who grew up in the UK, school sports take on a very different feel in the US. If you played on the high school team for anything where I grew up, the most you could expect of an audience would be a couple of parents and some girlfriends of the players. The US approach is very different with grandstands, floodlights, loads of spectators (both students and families) with bands and cheerleaders. Quite an event. There is catering and you pay to get in. (In the UK, you would have to pay some people to go and even then they probably wouldn’t!)

wpid11688-AU0E9488.jpgWe decided to check out the local high school in Dublin to see what one of the games would be like. Of course, I took my camera. Shooting high school football is something that I have pondered in the past. For this I just had my stuff in the stands and I didn’t bring anything too large. The team played pretty well. We caught the end of the JV game when we got there and then the varsity team played. It was dark by then and the lights were fine for watching but left a lot to be desired from a shooting perspective. However, this was all just supposed to be some fun so I ramped up the ISO and went with what I could get.

wpid11694-AU0E9785.jpgThe angles from the stands are not what I would normally want but even so, we had a pretty good line of sight for some of the plays. I wonder whether next year I shall make more of an effort to get there to cover more of the games and actually arrange to shoot from the sidelines.

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Rock Climbing

wpid11260-C59F7551.jpgThe scenery in Yosemite attracts a lot of people but some of them want to get a bit more personal with the rocky landscapes. Climbing is very popular and, when you stop to take a look around, a quick look up may well reveal a few brave fellows scaling the heights. I initially didn’t notice a group above us at one of our stops but then I saw someone else looking up and took a more detailed peak myself. I saw some people up on a ridge and only then noticed some people lower down on the face of the rocks as they descended.   The long lens doesn’t quite give you the impression of their height but I assure you they were a long way up.

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Motocross Jumping

wpid10748-AU0E9139.jpgAlameda County Fair is a pretty substantial event and it is held in Pleasanton, a short hop from our home. It runs for a few weeks so we made the effort to get down there during one weekend. It was a hot day but a nice one. There were a number of cool things to see and I shall have some further posts coming up. However, the first post deals with the first thing we saw when coming in the gate. Three motocross riders were performing jumps to entertain the crowd and they were certainly being successful.

wpid10778-AU0E9594.jpgWhen I first took a look at the small area cordoned off for them and the size of the ramps, I figured that things might be quite toned down compared to something like the X-Games stuff you see on TV. I am sure it was a lot less aggressive but I was still very impressed with what they could do. They got phenomenal height from a short run and were able to carry out some quite dramatic moves while airborne.

wpid10774-AU0E9533.jpgInitially I sat in the bleachers to watch but, as soon as it became clear how good they were, I got down to ground level to move around and get a variety of shots. (It also happened that they were jumping again as we went to leave so I managed a few extras then. Forget good planning. Go with luck!)

wpid10742-AU0E9018.jpgEach guy would do a number of jumps individually. They would be off the bike and contorting themselves in all sorts of ways or back flipping the whole thing. One crowd favorite was the Captain Morgan pirate pose in midair which did look cool. The grand finale involved all three of them coming up the ramp in sequence and providing a stream of tricks together. That was quite something.